For Immediate Release: February 5, 2007

Contact: Melanie McDonald/Amanda Goetz
Media Relations
574-284-4579 or mmcdonal@saintmarys.edu

“Red Herring” Brings Love, Murder, and Mystery to Saint Mary's Stage

NOTRE DAME, Ind. —The Saint Mary’s College Department of Communication and Performance Studies presents Philadelphia-based playwright Michael Hollinger’s 2000 farce "Red Herring" from Thursday to Saturday, Feb. 22-24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. in O’Laughlin Auditorium, Moreau Center for the Arts. Saint Mary’s College Associate Professor of Communication and Performance Studies Mark Abram-Copenhaver
directs the show.

“Red Herring” is set in 1952 when America is closing in on the H-bomb, Dwight Eisenhower is on the campaign trail, Joe McCarthy is on a rampage, and “I Love Lucy” is a Monday-night staple. Meanwhile, Senator Joe McCarthy’s daughter just got engaged to a Soviet spy, and Boston detective Maggie Pelletier has to find out who dumped the dead guy in the harbor or else lose out on a honeymoon in Havana. A blunt-nosed, sharp-eyed look at love and tying (and untying, and retying) the knot, Hollinger creates a clever farce of mistaken identity. “Red Herring” features an intricate plot that juggles three stories of love, one of nuclear espionage, and one of murder.

Michael Hollinger is the recipient of the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays, the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Theatre Artist, and multiple playwright fellowships from
the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Along with writing plays, Hollinger has also written three short films for WHYY-TV12 and co-authored TV 12's first feature-length film “Philadelphia Diary,” which aired December 1999.

Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for senior citizens, $7 for SMC/ND staff, and $6 for students. Tickets are available through the Saint Mary’s College Box Office by visiting Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., or by calling 574-284-4626.

The Moreau Center for the Arts celebrates its 50th anniversary during the 2006-2007 season. Named in honor of the Very Reverend Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C., the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the facility consists of O’Laughlin Auditorium, Little Theatre, Moreau Art Galleries, studios, workshops and classrooms. For more information about any event at the Moreau Center for the Arts, please call 574-284-4626 or visit MoreauCenter.com.

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